Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear brother A.S

I have a issue which I seem to have difficulty overcoming. I seem to fear people more than I should and my faith goes from really strong to really weak. Is there any advice you can give from the Qur`an to help with this especially strengthening the faith.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

How to strengthen faith?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Statement: and my faith goes from really strong to really weak.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6623 Narrated by Hanzalah Usayyidi,

I met AbuBakr. He said: ‘Who are you?’ He (Hanzalah) said: ‘Hanzalah has turned out to be a hypocrite.’ He (AbuBakr) said: ‘Hallowed be Allah, what are you saying?’ Thereupon he said: ‘I say that when we are in the company of Allah's Messenger (saws) we ponder over Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them before our very eyes. But when we are away from Allah's Messenger (saws) we attend to our wives, our children, our business; most of these things (pertaining to the After life) slip out of our minds.’ AbuBakr said: ‘By Allah, I also experience the same.’ So AbuBakr and I went to Allah's Messenger (saws) and said to him: ‘O Allah's Messenger (saws), Hanzalah has turned to be a hypocrite.’ Thereupon Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘What has happened to you?’ I said: “O Messenger of Allah (saws), when we are in your company, we are reminded of Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but whenever we go away from you and attend to our wives, children and business, many of these things go out of our minds.’ Thereupon Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if your state of mind remains the same as it is in my presence and you are always busy in remembrance (of Allah), the Angels will shake hands with you in your beds and on your paths. However, Hanzalah, time should be devoted (to the worldly affairs) and time (should be devoted to prayer and meditation).’ He (the holy Prophet) said this thrice.’

Beloved and dear Brother in Islam, in light of the above beautiful narration and guidance of the Messenger of Allah (saws), it is only natural that one will experience that his ‘emaan’ is really strong at times, and weak at other times! This was the condition of even the noblest of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws)!

Your Question: Is there any advice you can give from the Qur`an to help with this especially strengthening the faith.

May Allah Subhanah reward you immensely and generously from His Bounty and Grace in this world and the Hereafter for asking this very very important and thought-provoking question! If only we were engrossed and worried about increasing and strengthening our ‘emaan’, rather than running the ‘rat-race’ in seeking the transient pleasures and luxuries and mirages of this world! May Allah Subhanah bless you for asking this all-important question.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 8 Surah Anfaal verses 2-4:

2 For the believers are those, who when Allah is mentioned feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His Signs (or Aayahs) rehearsed, find their faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their Lord.

3 Who establish regular prayers and spend (freely) out of the gifts We have given them for sustenance:

4 Such in truth are the believers: they have grades of dignity with their Lord, and forgiveness, and generous sustenance.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 58 Surah Mujadila verses 21-22:

21 Allah has decreed: "It is I and My Messenger who must prevail": For Allah is One full of Strength. Able to enforce His Will.

22 Thou wilt not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who resist Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred. For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with a spirit from Himself. And He will admit them to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow to dwell therein (for ever). Allah will be well pleased with them and they with Him. They are the Party of Allah. Truly it is the Party of Allah that will achieve Felicity.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 124: Whenever there cometh down a Surah some of them (the disbelievers or hypocrites) say: "which of you (believers) has had his faith increased by it? Yea! Those who believe their faith is increased, and they do rejoice.

There are several things which increase and strengthen ones ‘emaan’ in Allah and the Last Day; but if, in our humble opinion, we were to choose one, then it has to be constant remembrance of Allah Subhanah through the recitation of the Glorious Quran with understanding!

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.49 Narrated by An Numan bin Bashir

Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body: if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good, but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt! and that is: the heart.

Faith is the condition of one’s heart; and the only thing that conditions or gives contentment to the heart is the constant Remembrance of Allah Subhanah!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 13 Surah Raad verse 28-29: The people who have accepted (the Message), their hearts find comfort in the remembrance of Allah. Note it well!, that is Allah’s remembrance Alone that brings contentment to the hearts! Blessed are those who have accepted the Message and done righteous deeds. They will have a good end.

My beloved and dear Brother in Islam, as your sincere well-wishers and brothers we humbly advice you as we remind ourselves, that one must constantly remember Allah Subhanah and the fear the Accounting of the Last Day in His Majestic and Supreme Presence…for that state will strengthen and increase our faith!

And there is no better way to remember Allah Subhanah and the Last Day, then to be constant in the recitation of the Glorious Quran with understanding!

The more one understands, comprehends, trusts, obeys and follows the Guidance of the Quran, the more one will fear Allah and His Accounting on the Last Day, thus increasing his ‘emaan’ and faith in Allah Subhanah, the Lord of the Worlds. The more one strengthens one’s emaan, the more he will strive to do good righteous deeds; and the more one does good righteous deeds, the more one’s emaan will be strengthened! Blessed are those who strive to involve themselves in this ‘cycle’ of righteousness!

Conversely, the more one abstains from the remembrance of Allah and the Last Day, the weaker one’s emaan will get; and the weaker one’s emaan becomes, the lesser he strives to do good righteous deeds! Then woe to those who waste their allotted time of this short period of one life in seeking the transient pleasures of the world, and to those who amass fortunes to buy the luxuries of this world, and to those who constantly seek to ‘pass’ or ‘kill’ their time in non-beneficial entertainment and games and amusements!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anam verse 32: This worldly life is but a sport and a pastime. In fact, the abode of the Hereafter is better for those who desire to be safe from harm. Will you not, then, use your common sense?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verses 50-51: (On the Day of Judgement) The inmates of Hell will cry out to the people of Paradise: “Pour upon us a little water or throw down a bit of the provisions Allah has bestowed upon you.” The people of Paradise will reply, “Allah has forbidden both these things to the disbelievers, who had made their religion a sport and a pastime, and who had been deluded by the worldly life.” Then Allah will say, “Today We will forget them just as they forgot the meeting of this Day, and rejected Our Revelations.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 57 Surah Hadid verses 20-21: Know it well that the life of this world is nothing but a sport and a pastime, and a show, and a thing of boasting among yourselves, and a rivalry in wealth and children. Its example is of vegetation after a shower of rain, which delights the tillers; then the same ripens and you see it turn yellow; then it becomes straw. Contrary to this, in the life to come there is severe torment (for the disbelievers); and forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure (for the believers). The life of this world is nothing but an illusionary screen.

Your Statement: I seem to fear people more than I should

The more one strives to strengthen one’s emaan in Allah and the Last Day, the more one will comprehend that there is no power and no strength except the Power and Strength of Allah Subhanah!

And the more one gets convinced that All Power and All Strength belongs to none except Allah Subhanah, the more he will realize how weak everyone and everything in existence is; and once we comprehend this simple formula, the fear of Allah and the Last Day will replace our fear of people.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 59 Surah Hashr verses 18-21:

18 O ye who believe! Fear Allah and let every soul look to what (provision) he has sent forth for the morrow. Yea! Fear Allah!; for Allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do.

19 And be ye not like those who forget Allah; and He made them forget their own souls! Such are the rebellious transgressors!

20 Not equal are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of the Garden: it is the Companions of the Garden that will achieve Felicity.

21 Had We sent down this Qur'an on a mountain, verily thou would have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of Allah! Such are the similitudes which We propound to men that they may reflect.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan